As England’s cricketers were leaving the field in Dubai after a frustrating day in the second Test against Pakistan, Steve McClaren took his seat to face the media and played a straight bat.

Given the hype and hysteria that usually surrounds the Wear-Tyne derby it’s easy to see why.

It would have been easy for McClaren to come out and suggest the pressure was all on Sunderland or even that the pressure was on his own side after a rotten run of derby results.

In fact, the pressure ended up being on the Tyneside media corps who must now try to present his quotes in the best way they can in order for it to see light of day.

Fans won’t be too bothered what is said by Newcastle players and backroom staff this week. Some would prefer they keep their mouths shut and go out and get a result, no matter how they do it. A scrappy 1-0 win with an OG would just nicely from a Toon point of view.

It’s interesting that Sky Sports chose to broadcast this game at all. After all they aren’t usually classic encounters and last season’s “desperation derby” was a poor affair to watch for the neutral.

Sam Allardyce’s new book has meant that Sunderland have dominated the headlines going into the game, and that’s before his Press conference has actually taken place!

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However, McClaren warned it might be just as low-key as he quipped the same cliches will be uttered at the Academy of Light on Friday afternoon.

Newcastle’s record has been rubbish in recent times but McClaren’s own dealings with Sunderland as Middlesbrough boss offer a straw to clutch to.

He’s twice done the Premier League double over the Wearsiders and he’s got a 100% record against them at the Stadium of Light too, a statistic Newcastle fans would be content to see churned out again come 2pm on Sunday.

The first subject McClaren was asked about was Big Sam and ‘that’ book. He said: “It’ll be great to see Sam again and it’s great that he’s back in the game so quick. I wish him well but only after Sunday.”

When asked about Big Sam’s belief that he should have got the England job ahead of McClaren in 2006, the Toon chief said: “I didn’t read that bit and I have no comment on that one.”

McClaren wasn’t wrong about using the usual derby cliches. “Play the game and not the occasion” was one, quickly followed by: “The form book goes out of the window”. McClaren followed up by saying: “Sam will be saying them all tomorrow!”.

But McClaren may privately feel if Newcastle can avoid a defeat and buck the trend in derbies, it’s a positive result. In some ways he doesn’t have to win it but he could do without losing it.

He said: “All the cliches are true because it’s a one-off game and you can’t control the result, just how you play and perform. We really have to perform well on Sunday to get a result.”

If they can do that, they can say whatever they want after the game. Geordies won’t give a hoot if Newcastle win their first game in four years.